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Cebu couple using own kid in cybersex ops arrested

Government authorities have arrested a couple who use children, including their 13-year-old daughter, in their cybersex operations in Cebu province.

According to the Inter-Agency Council Against Human Trafficking (IACAT), the suspects, who authorities identified only as "Mila" and "Nilo," used children in their community in Barangay Ibabao to pose nude and make lewd videos for their online customers for fees ranging from P3,000 to P5,000 per session.

An entrapment operation was carried out against the couple after an American was arrested in the US viewing nude minors online.

The two would be charged with violations of Republic Act 9775 or the ANti-Child Pornography Act and RA 9208 or the Anti-Trafficking in Persons Act of 2003. If found guilty, the two can be sentenced to life imprisonment and pay a fine ranging from P2 million to P5 million.

Under RA 10364 or the Expanded Anti-Trafficking in Persons Act of 2012, names of suspects are no longer kept confidential. However, Mila and Nilo's real names were withheld "for the protection of the couple's child," said the IACAT, which is supervised by the Department of Justice.

Human trafficking is the illegal trade of human beings for forced labor or commercial sexual exploitation.

Apart from the IACAT, other agencies that helped in the arrest were the National Bureau of Investigation's Anti Human Trafficking Division, the Department of Social Welfare and Development, and the International Justice Mision.

The DSWD has taken the custody of the suspects' daughter, as well as their two other children, a 14-year-old girl and a 17-year-old boy.

"Our collaborations, both locally and internationally, are key to this mission. We need to strengthen our commitment as the situation has serious impact into the way we view family and morality," said Justice Undersecretary Vicente Salazar, in-charge of IACAT.

Salazar said cybersex operations are prevalent in the Visayas region in the past few years, especially in Cordova, Cebu, with similar cases of parents "selling" their children online. — Mark Merueñas/RSJ, GMA News